It’s (officially) Taco Tuesday!
On Sept. 17, Taco Bell and the team at National Day Calendar announced their joint decision to move National Taco Day from Oct. 4 to the first Tuesday in October ... annually.
Before the shift, the holiday only fell on a Tuesday roughly once every five or six years, a representative from Taco Bell tells TODAY.com. And that seemed anything but festive.
Even fans on social media have complained about the clear oversight.
“To right this wrong, Taco Bell has worked tirelessly with the powers that be, in this case National Day Calendar, to move the National Taco Day recognition to fall solely on Tuesdays henceforth,” the chain said in a press release.
In honor of the occasion, the fast-food giant is dropping deals each Tuesday throughout October. Representatives from Taco Bell say fans can stay up to date on the drops by signing up for the chain’s rewards program and keeping a close eye on its social media pages.
According to journalist Gustavo Arellano, National Taco Day has a much richer history than just showing up one day among other deal- and discount-centric food holidays.
U.S. & World
The columnist and author of “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” traced the day back to San Antonio, Texas, in the 1960s. While the initial celebratory season was reportedly in early May, fans saw it shift into October in the late 2000s, the chain wrote in a press release.
This is just the latest update in Taco Bell’s crusade to spread the tastiness of Taco Tuesday.
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On Oct. 24, 2023, the day-of-the-week phrase officially became free to use after the chain had worked to petition the reversal of trademarks held by two restaurants — the trademarks made its use a violation for participants across all 50 states.
“When we set out to free Taco Tuesday, we did it for all who make, sell, eat and celebrate tacos,” Taco Bell's then-incoming CEO, Sean Tresvant, said in a press release at the time.
This article first appeared on TODAY.com. Read more from TODAY here:
